Banistriopsis caapi, a woody vine from Amazonian basin, is famous as an ingredient of a popular hallucinogenic drink ayahuasca. Usefulness of B. caapi extracts has been indicated in controlling symptoms of Parkinson's diseases (PD), a neurological disorder affecting approximately 1-5% population in the age groups of 65-80 years. The goal of this project is to develop a standardized aqueous extract of unique cultivars of B. caapi Da Vine for monoamino oxidase A and B inhibitory activity and the composition of its markers. The isolation of major marker compounds from the "most active" extract may be utilized to develop a reliable analytical method for quantification and fingerprinting. The following specific aims will be pursued to reach the goal: 1) Establish an efficient and reliable extraction method for B. caapi Da Vine that will guarantee maximum MAO inhibitory potency. This protocol will be developed based on the traditional method of preparation. The objective is to optimize the MAO inhibitory potency of the aqueous extract at various phases of extraction, and to gain knowledge for its preservation. 2) Perform MAO A and B inhibition assays initially on aqueous extracts of fresh and dried stems, and then on leaves, wood, twigs and roots. The potential biological activities will be followed until the most common active compound(s) and markers are isolated and characterized. Additional assays for acetylcholinestrase, catechol-O-methyltransfarese, dopamine release functions and cytotoxicity will be addressed. 3.) Characterize the major markers, active/ inactive, present in the extract which will be the candidate compounds for standardization. Emphasis will be placed isolating compounds from alkaloid, terpenoid and flavonoid classes of natural products, which will represent a broad phytochemical composition of the standardized extract. 4.) Structure elucidation of markers/ minor compounds using spectroscopic technology to acquire NMR (1H, C and N), UV-Vis, IR and HRMS data. 5) Developing analytical RP-HPLC method for quantification of markers and a library of HPLC chromatograms will be generated as a tool for fingerprinting. Standardization of the extracts of B caapi Da Vine for chemical and biological markers would be useful for future clinical evaluation of depressive disorders and PD. The usefulness of B. caapi aqueous extracts has been established in alleviating symptoms of Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder affecting approximately 1-5% population in the age groups of 65-80 years. The presence of different psychotropic constituents in B. caapi designates the possibility of additional use of its standardized extracts as antidepressant, antiapoptotic, and ameliorator of Alzheimer's symptoms. Therefore, a standardized extracts of B. caapi Da Vine with known phytochemical compositions and biological markers will be useful for Parkinson's disease, as well as depressive and neurological disorders. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]